Josephine Karianjahi develops creative ventures which deepen understanding, tolerance, and connection between people across the world. Right now, the Kenyan-born Karianjahi is on a mission to make African podcasters famous as cofounder of an African podcast research, events and production company, Africa Podfest. Africa Podfest is best known as a hub for African podcasters which curates Africa Podcast Day, delivers groundbreaking African podcast research for open access and most recently was selected as the inaugural fund administrator to the US$ 100,000 Spotify Africa Podcast Fund, a first in podcasting.

Josephine’s approach can be described as driving a stick-shift in an automatic world, using audio, podcasts, and storytelling to counter persistent negative stereotypes about Africa and Africans. Her work prioritizes podcasting as a community building practice that makes people feel less lonely and amplifies traditionally underrepresented persons. She is a sought-after international speaker and moderator who has featured on stages around the world such as Podcast Movement Dallas, and Germany’s ZEF International Speaker Forum. She has delivered Masterclasses for Podcastfestival Amsterdam, the Google PRX Podcast Creator Program and Africa Podcast Day. Her storytelling projects and collaborations in audio, podcasting and print have been featured on Kenya’s Standard Media Group Radio Maisha, CNN’s Inside Africa, The Moth Global Gender Equality Storytelling Workshop, and the United Nation’s Africa Renewal Magazine among others. She is an experienced nonprofit board member currently on the Board of The Action Foundation, which is a Google.org STEM Award winner.

Josephine holds a BA in the Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania and a Master’s in public health from Columbia University in the City of New York.

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